


she's a wildflower

by AnxietyAvocado



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Other, Sisters, Summer Vacation, implied kyoru, we just need more of tohru taking care of kisa okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:02:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24390277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxietyAvocado/pseuds/AnxietyAvocado
Summary: Akito's visit to the summer house has upset Kisa. Tohru doesn't want her 'little sister' to have her vacation ruined, so she tries to distract her with a flower game.
Relationships: Honda Tohru & Sohma Kisa, Honda Tohru/Sohma Kyou, Sohma Hiro/Sohma Kisa
Comments: 5
Kudos: 53





	she's a wildflower

**Author's Note:**

  * For [floraltohru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/floraltohru/gifts).



> this is all @floraltohru's fault. all of it. 
> 
> find me on tumblr at @tohrushat!

Summer is… cicadas buzzing in the background. Light fabrics and lighter smiles. Cool baths. Fruit for breakfast. Early mornings and lazy afternoons. Fireflies. Fireworks. Laundry that smells like sunshine. Flowers. Summer is beach houses and breezy nights with friends and days full of possibilities. 

Sometimes, though, summer is also longing and an ache in your chest where you know your heart is, but it feels like it’s gone. 

\---

Tohru was in the middle of hanging up laundry when she saw Kisa laid out on the grass underneath where the sheets were swaying in the breeze. If it were anyone else she might have been startled, but Kisa had a habit of trying to be wherever Tohru was, and the sight of her nearby no longer sent the older girl into an anxious tizzy of apologies and babbling. 

As soon as she finished hanging up the shirts - Yuki’s button-downs next to her blouses, followed by Kyo’s t-shirts and Harus tank tops - Tohru abandoned the laundry basket where it stood and laid next to Kisa, their heads nearly touching as their feet stretched out away from each other. 

“Are you alright?” Tohru asked quietly. 

Kisa hummed in response, letting her know that she had heard the question, and was working up an answer. It was one of the things Tohru appreciated the most about Kisa, that she took the time to say what she really wanted instead of filling the silences like Tohru often tried to. It was something she was trying to learn from the younger girl. 

“Akito is here, Sissy, and I don’t want to go see him,” Kisa finally answered. “I don’t want to get hurt again, and I know if I see him he’ll know and try to take me away.”

Of all the Sohmas, Tohru thought that Kisa had been given some of the worst treatment. It was shameful how they were all treated like chess pieces, moved about for Akito’s amusement - not that it was her place to say anything. From what she understood, Akito wanted to be the center of their world, upset when they found someone or something they loved more than him. The general murmured consensus was that when Kisa had landed in the hospital, she had gotten lucky. Tohru didn’t understand how that could be considered  _ lucky _ though. 

She couldn’t voice any of that. Not when she didn’t know the truth of the matter, or when her living with the Sohmas depended entirely on Akito’s approval. They were truly caught in a tangled web. 

“I’m sure Akito is just… protective,” Tohru said haltingly. “After all, that’s a lot of responsibility to be the head of the family. Besides, I don’t think Hiro would let you be taken away.”

The mention of Hiro’s name made Kisa shudder, and Tohru instantly regretting bringing him up. She knew from others that the boy had blamed himself for what happened, and she didn’t want to dredge up old feelings or problems. 

When Kisa answered, her voice was shaky. “I know, but Akito could order Hiro to stay away. Or to leave. I don’t want him to leave me. I want him to-”

At the sound of Kisa starting to sniffle and cry, Tohru sat up quickly and looked around for something to distract the girl. There was very little around them - just the laundry hanging above, trees nearby providing shade, the backdoor to the house framed by flowering bushes…

The flowers! 

Tohru scrambled to stand up and ran over to the bushes, plucking several flowers (while silently apologizing to the Sohmas for ruining such beautiful plants) and ran back to Kisa. She sat on her knees and took the young girl’s hands to pull her up to a sitting position. 

“We’re going to play a game!” Tohru announced, her voice cheery and bright. 

Kisa looked at her, eyes wide, as she waited for an explanation. 

“Here’s how it goes. You’re going to hold your flower and think of Hiro. Think of all of the wonderful things he’s done for you! How much you want him to stay, how good of a friend he has been, all the things that make you happy about him. And then, you’re going to pull the petals off of this flower-” Tohru looked at the flowers in hand before carefully choosing one to hand to her. “- and you’ll say ‘He loves me’ and then ‘He loves me not’ for each petal. And when you pull the last one, you’ll know! And nothing Akito says or does can change that, because flowers have wonderful magic.”

With the flower in her hand, Kisa closed her eyes and smiled at whatever private thoughts and memories she had of Hiro - a lifetime of friendship that Tohru had only seen the last few months of. When she was done, she carefully plucked off the first petal and whispered  _ He loves me _ , followed by the next one when she frowned and whispered  _ He loves me not _ . Over and over, she went around the flower, Tohru watching her all the while. When she approached the last few petals and the answer became obvious, Kisa looked up at Tohru with eyes full of happiness and wonder, and pulled the last petal off. 

“He loves me,” she murmured, voice full of awe. 

Tohru nodded. “Of course he does. Anyone would be silly not to love you.”

Kisa threw herself into Tohru’s arms, hugging her tightly. As Tohru returned her hug, stroking her hair and giggling, she was happy to have brought some joy to at least one Sohma today, even if it was just for a few minutes. 

“Thank you, Sissy.”

“Of course! Do you feel better now?”

The younger girl nodded, before picking a flower up from where Tohru had dropped it and handing it to her. “Yes, but now it’s your turn!”

Tohru was at a loss for words. She didn’t know that she could sit here with Kisa and pretend that she wanted to know if a boy loved her or didn’t. Maybe she would ask the flower if her mother was still with her, but the thought that the answer could be no was just too painful. 

Luckily, she was saved by Momiji who had run out to ask what they were going to eat for dinner that night. 

Walking hand in hand with Kisa back to the house, Momiji on her other side carrying the laundry baskets for her, Tohru promised them a delicious dinner followed by some games, or maybe watching Mogeta. 

And when she was in her room that night, and Kisa was fast asleep, Tohru took the flower off of the dresser and looked at it. She didn’t have the words for what she wanted, for who she wanted to ask about. All she knew was that there was a hollow feeling in her chest where her heart should be, but it felt as though it was gone and perhaps in the hands of someone else. She shook her head at the thought, but started pulling at the flower petals anyway. 

_ He loves me… he loves me not… he loves me… he loves me not… he loves me… he loves me not… he loves me… he loves me not… _

_ He loves me.  _

Leaving the flower petals next to the stem on top of the dresser, Tohru sighed and snuggled under her blanket. That night, she dreamt of hermit crabs and sandcastles, and that the evening sky was a familiar shade of orange. 


End file.
